“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
—Fourteenth Amendment, Section 1 (1866 / 1868)
Required Text
- George C. Herring, From Colony to Superpower: US Foreign Relations Since 1776 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008) [LIBRARY ONLINE]
Additional Readings
- Amanda Frost, “’By Accident of Birth’: The Battle over Birthright Citizenship After United States v. Wong Kim Ark,” 32 Yale Journal of Law & the Humanities, 38–76 (2021) [WEB]
- Margaret MacMillan, “The Rhyme of History: Lessons of the Great War,” Brookings (2013) [WEB]
- Walter Russell Mead, “The American Foreign Policy Legacy,” Foreign Affairs 81 (Jan.-Feb. 2002): 163-176 [JSTOR]
First Essay –Early US Diplomacy
On Monday, October 9, students will submit by email a 3-5 page typed, double-spaced essay on a topic concerning early US diplomacy provided to them in class on Thursday, Oct. 5. All essays must include references to the Herring book, properly cited using Chicago-style footnotes. Outside research is allowed but not required. Essays will be graded on depth of analysis, use of evidence, and quality of prose. Late essays will be penalized up to 5 points each day.
Second Essay –Modern US Diplomacy
On Monday, November 13, students will submit by email a 3-5 page typed, double-spaced essay on a topic concerning modern US diplomatic history provided to them in class on Thursday, Nov. 9. All essays must include references to the Herring book, properly cited using Chicago-style footnotes. Outside research is allowed but not required. Essays will be graded on depth of analysis, use of evidence, and quality of prose. Late essays will be penalized up to 5 points each day.
By Friday, December 1, students will submit by email an 8- to 10-page biographical paper that analyzes a significant diplomatic contribution from an American historical figure (not serving as president) during the period between 1776 and 2000. Each profile paper should provide background on the person as well as thoughtful context about that period. All papers should use George Herring’s From Colony to Superpower (2008) as a starting point, but they should also employ a wide-ranging combination of other scholarly sources and relevant primary sources. All essays should be typed and double-spaced as Word or PDF documents with title page and Chicago-style footnotes (no bibliography required). Papers will receive provisional grades (based on research effort, analysis and prose) that will be updated following submission of the final website project.
By Wednesday, December 13, students should transform their diplomatic profile papers into a Weebly site. Students should send Prof. Pinsker their Weebly URL by email. Each website project should be designed as an online teaching exhibit, revised and improved from the originally submitted profile paper, but now focusing on using various multi-media tools to help bring the main historical insights to life for high school and college classrooms. Students should strive to find ways to highlight primary sources, by providing links to full-text versions of such sources where available)and by including properly captioned and credited images of relevant historical figures, events, and materials. Each website should also include at least one embedded short video (about 1 to 2 minutes) that provides a biographical overview of the subject. Projects will be graded on depth of analysis, research and design effort, and quality of prose. Late submissions will be penalized 5 points per day.
Grade Distribution
Class Participation 30 percent
Essay 1 –Early US diplomacy 20 percent
Essay 2 –20th Century diplomacy 20 percent
Profiles in Diplomacy project 30 percent
Class Schedule
| Day | Date | Discussion Topic | Reading Assignment |
| Tuesday | 8/29 | Methods & Expectations | — |
| Thursday | 8/31 | American Diplomacy | Herring, Intro (pp. 1-10), Mead article |
| Tuesday | 9/5 | Revolutionary Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 1 |
| Thursday | 9/7 | Partisan Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 2 |
| Tuesday | 9/12 | Jeffersonian Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 3 |
| Thursday | 9/14 | Jacksonian Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 4 |
| Tuesday | 9/19 | Expansionist Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 5 |
| Thursday | 9/21 | Lincolnian Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 6 |
| Tuesday | 9/26 | Global Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 7 |
| Tuesday | 9/26 | EVENT: Citizenship & Immigration Law | ATS, 7pm (REQUIRED) |
| Thursday | 9/28 | Spotlight: Birthright Citizenship | Frost article |
| Tuesday | 10/3 | Imperial Diplomacy: War of 1898 | Herring, chapter 8 (pp. 299-324) |
| Thursday | 10/5 | Imperial Diplomacy: Occupation | Herring, chapter 8 (pp. 324-336) |
| Monday | 10/9 | First essay due | By 5pm via email |
| Tuesday | 10/10 | Progressive Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 9 |
| Thursday | 10/12 | Wilsonian Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 10 |
| Tuesday | 10/17 | NO CLASS (Fall Break) | |
| Thursday | 10/19 | Spotlight: Lessons of the Great War | Macmillan essay |
| Tuesday | 10/24 | Commercial Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 11 |
| Thursday | 10/26 | New Deal Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 12 |
| Tuesday | 10/31 | Alliance Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 13 |
| Thursday | 11/2 | Containment Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 14 (pp. 595-626) |
| Tuesday | 11/7 | Cold War Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 14 (pp. 626-650) |
| Thursday | 11/9 | Brinksmanship Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 15 |
| Monday | 11/13 | Second essay due | By 5pm via email |
| Tuesday | 11/14 | NO CLASS // Crisis Diplomacy | NO CLASS |
| Thursday | 11/16 | Vietnam Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 16 |
| Tuesday | 11/21 | Detente Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 17 |
| Thursday | 11/23 | NO CLASS (Thanksgiving) | |
| Tuesday | 11/28 | Human Rights Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 18 |
| Thursday | 11/30 | New World Order Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 19 |
| Friday | 12/1 | Profile paper due | By 5pm via email |
| Tuesday | 12/5 | Hyperpower Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 20 |
| Thursday | 12/7 | Lessons & Legacies | |
| Wednesday | 12/13 | Profile websites due | By 5pm, send URL via email |